Insole



(No Model.) 7

0-. W. KING.

INSOLE.

No. 346,553. Patented Aug. 3, 1886.

Wiqessas Ig /Eqkmzi UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

CHARLES V. KING, OF RUTHERFORD, NEWV JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD F.BRADFORD, TRUSTEE, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

INSOLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 346,553, dated August3, 1886.

Serial No. 182,090. No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES W. KING, of Rutherford, county of Bergen,State of New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in InnerSoles for Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a full, clear,concise, and exact description, reference being had to the drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a perspective view of my imrc proved sole; and Fig. 2is a section on line 00 a,

Fig. 1.

The object of my invention is the production of an inner sole, which,when introduced into the shoe, will have sufficient substance to admitof the upper being firmly secured to it, and which, after the shoe hasbeen worn for a time, will become light and flexible throughout thecentral portions; and it consists of a sole constructed of two or morelayers, as hereinafter set forth.

The upper layer is preferably of a good quality of leather, and to oneside of this layer I secure, by cement or otherwise, a layer, B, whichconsists of a material composed chiefly of paper-stock and tar, which isknown as sheathing -felt, and is used largely as a sheathing paper orfelt under the metallic sheathing of the hulls of vessels. It is notdesirable or necessary to secure the layer of 0 sheathing-felt to theleather very firmly, but only so that the two layers may be handled asone piece until they are secured in the shoe. By the use of thispeculiar material for the layer B, which forms the lower or inside layerwhen the sole is in the shoe, I find that a sole is produced whichretains substantially its normal thickness around the edges, where it isstitched or fastened; but which, after slight wear, becomes much thinnerand more flexible throughout the central portions, due to the shrinkageand crumbling away of the layer B throughout these central portions ofthe sole when dry, and subjected to the pressure and slight frictionresulting from the wear of the shoe and the movement of the inner solerelatively to the outer sole and the other parts. \Vhen by this actionthe layer B has practically disappeared, the leather layer A is left,forming a light, flexible, and strong inner sole.

The handling of the shoe in the process of manufacture after the innersole has been socured to the upper has the effect of breaking up thefelt layer B, so that it offers but little resistance to the flexibilityof the sole, and 5 the wear of the shoe to a slight extent is sufficientto complete the breaking up of this layer B in such a manner as to causeany resistance which it might present to the llexibility of the shoe topractically disappear. 6o Continued wear of the shoe completes thedisintegration of the layer B until the layer of leather alone is leftin the central portion of the shoe.

I am aware that soles constructed of two or more layers, one or both ofwhich were of leather, leather board, leather scraps, cloth, and thelike, are old and well known, and I do not claim the same.

What I claim is- An inner sole for boots or shoes, having an upper layerof leather and an under or intermediate layer of sheathing-paper whichis composed chiefly of paper-stock and tar, substantially as and for thepurpose specified.

CHARLES W. KING. Witnesses:

WM. A. MAcLEoD, ROBERT WALLACE.

